Baroness Ashton of Upholland: My right honourable friend the Minister of State (Harriet Harman) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Further to the Statement of 11 January made by my noble friend Baroness Ashton of Upholland, I am pleased to announce the publication of the Cardiff University research into the operation of rule 9.5 of the Family Proceedings Rules 1991 that was commissioned by my department. Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses and may be accessed via the DCA website (www.dca.gov.uk/majrepfr.htm).
	The Cardiff University researchers consulted with children and their families to obtain their views on being separately represented under rule 9.5 in Children Act 1989 court proceedings brought by their parents about future contact and/or residence. We wanted to understand the extent to which formal representation through a solicitor and guardian is meeting children's needs or whether there are other ways in which their needs can be met. The researchers focused on the features, both those which were beneficial and those which were adverse, of separate representation, alongside statistical evidence already in the public domain.
	The research indicates that provisions for meeting children's needs could be improved. There are a number of important recommendations made in this research report. They include the need for the potential advantages of rule 9.5 to be secured earlier in proceedings; a call for greater judicial continuity in the hearing of cases; the proposal that children should have clear, reliable and age-appropriate information about their parents' separation/divorce from the beginning of proceedings; that children should have a "passage agent"—someone, apart from their parent(s), to support them through the court process; that there should be early identification of the features of the case which are likely to produce intractable behaviour on the part of parents; that the child should always be separately represented before making enforcement orders under the (eventual) Adoption and Children Act; and the need to implement changes to Family Man to record (i) if the tandem model was used (ii) who was appointed to represent the child and (iii) the name of the judge hearing the case.
	The research report, alongside consideration of other research focusing on children's welfare and other statistical evidence, will be used to inform the making of rules of court under Section 122 (1)(b) and (2) of the Adoption and Children Act 2002. In the mean time, existing provisions for the representation of children remain in force, which continue to offer a range of ways in which the courts may ascertain children's wishes and feelings.

Lord Adonis: My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Schools and 14–19 Learners (Jacqui Smith) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	The Secretary of State, in her response to PriceWaterhouseCoopers' second annual evaluation report on the academies programme, announced proposals to align more closely investment in Academies with Building Schools for the Future (BSF). It has now been agreed that Partnerships for Schools (PfS) will have responsibility for the academy building programme.
	PfS is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) wholly owned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and managed and funded under a joint venture between the DfES and Partnerships UK (PUK). PfS was established in March 2004 to work with local authorities (LAs) and the private sector to rebuild or refurbish the secondary school estate. PfS is a national delivery vehicle for BSF, which is a government programme to renew all the secondary schools in England over a 15-year period. PfS ensures that secondary schools buildings are well-designed, built cost-effectively and on time, and that they are properly maintained. PfS does this by building strong public/private partnerships (PPPs), enabling the public sector to benefit from the best skills and expertise available in the private sector, and thereby achieving greater efficiencies and economies of scale.
	Within the BSF programme, education and design specialists from PfS work with LAs to create innovative and exciting learning environments for schools. In addition, the procurement and project management expertise which PfS provides ensures that the programme is delivered effectively and that economies of scale are achieved, and that the BSF programme is delivered in the most cost-effective and efficient way. By including the delivery of academy buildings within PfS's remit, we will ensure that these aims and objectives are delivered for academy buildings and ensure that academies are established as part of a strategic programme of investment for each LA. Closer integration of the two building programmes will also enhance the capacity of PfS to secure high standards and greater procurement efficiencies.
	A standardised approach to procurement will both support these efficiencies and drive the creation of excellent educational environments which will make a major contribution to radically improving educational opportunities in areas of significant social and economic deprivation.
	As a result of the closer integration of the academies building programme with BSF, there will be some technical changes to the way in which academy buildings are procured and constructed. The department is currently working closely with PfS on the detail of how this closer integration will work. Our intention is to minimise any changes to the way PFS and LAs currently work together. The closer integration of the BSF and the academy building programmes will also support the sharing of good practice in building excellent learning institutions within both the academies and BSF programmes.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My honourable friend the Minister of State for Transport (Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	I will attend the first Transport Council of the Austrian presidency which takes place in Brussels on 27 March.
	The main items on the agenda are: a debate on the draft regulation on public service obligations in passenger transport; a revised regulation on aviation security; progress reports on air transport negotiations with the USA, implementation of the European Single Sky (SESAR) and the Galileo satellite navigation project; and a debate on the EU strategy for sustainable development.
	There will be a policy debate on the draft Public Service Obligation (PSO) regulation for public passenger transport services by rail and by road. The draft regulation sets out to ensure harmonised rules for the granting of contracts to passenger transport operators, including rail operators, to provide public services. To focus the debate, the Austrian presidency will ask Ministers to address two multi-faceted questions.
	The first set of questions concerns the provisions in the regulation relating to the direct award of contracts for transport services. Part one seeks a ministerial view whether the provisions of Article 5(6), which provide for the possibility of directly awarding regional or long-distance rail transport services, should be extended to include suburban heavy rail services. The Council and Commission minutes statement tabled at the December Transport Council accepted the principle set out in Article 5(6) but the Government will strongly oppose any further extension. The Government will argue that the inclusion of suburban rail services would effectively prevent the opening of the entire rail market in perpetuity.
	Similarly the Government will firmly oppose the extension of the principle of direct award to all transport modes, which is the focus of the second part of the question. The UK will argue that an extension of the principle of direct award to all transport modes is against the principles of the Treaty. We will argue that it is diametrically opposite to the European Council statement in 2000 that called for the speeding up of liberalisation in areas such as transport. And we will argue that any extension of the principle of direct award makes a regulation that should be enabling some increase in liberalisation, largely worthless. At this stage we expect a majority of Member States and the Commission strongly to oppose extending Article 5(6) to all transport modes.
	Finally on this section of questions, the Government will support the proposition, couched as a question by the presidency, that measures should be put in place to prevent operators in receipt of direct awards from competing in open markets elsewhere in order to prevent distortions of competition.
	The proposed regulation also provides for the continuation of public service contracts awarded on the basis of a fair competitive tendering procedure and of a limited duration comparable to the durations proposed in the regulation, until they expire.
	The second question asks Ministers whether other sorts of existing contracts should be allowed to continue until their expiry date, in particular considering the manner in which these contracts have been allocated and their duration. The Government will argue that contracts put in place before the first Commission proposal for a regulation in this area (26 July 2000) should be allowed to remain in place until they expire provided that they were awarded on the basis of a fair competitive tendering procedure and therefore in conformity with Community law that existed at that time.
	We will argue that there are legitimate expectations, legal and financial implications and potentially even human rights concerns that contracts awarded on this basis should remain in place.
	Road safety is on the agenda in two parts. The Commission will present its mid-term review of the EU Road Safety Action programme. The review concludes that progress in reducing deaths on roads within the EU was faster in the period 2001–05 than previously, but that the rate of progress is not sufficient to meet the Action Programme's target of a 50 per cent reduction by 2010, and calls for a renewed effort. The Government welcome the mid-term review and the emphasis in the action programme on making progress through collaboration and cooperation rather than European legislation. The Commission has indicated that it will be considering proposals for legislation.
	The presidency will make a statement on the informal meeting of Ministers held in Austria in early March, which I attended on behalf of the UK. The meeting covered road safety awareness campaigns, driver training, vehicle technology, and latest trends in research and innovation.
	There will be two presentations on inland waterways. The Commission will present its recent communication on the promotion of inland waterways. The communication sets out an action programme—called NAIADES (Navigation and Inland Waterway Action and Development in Europe)—to boost Inland Waterway transport in order to reduce traffic congestion and harmful effects on the environment. While the communication does not contain any legislative proposals, it does look at the different options for modernising the regulatory environment. The time frame for the implementation of the plan is 2006–13. The Austrian presidency will also report on the findings of a high-level meeting on inland navigation, which considered the communication in February.
	In regard to aviation security, the Council will be aiming to reach a general approach on the regulation to replace the existing regulation 2320/02. The new proposal would help to clarify, simplify, and further harmonise legal requirements with the aim of enhancing overall security in civil aviation. The Austrian presidency has indicated that it will be aiming for the Council to reach a general approach, which the Government support.
	There will be a progress report on SESAR, the project for implementation of the Single European Sky (air traffic management). This will be on the basis of a recent Commission communication and a draft regulation on the establishment of a project management group. The regulation is subject to the consultation procedure, and co-decision with the European Parliament does not apply. The Government support the SESAR project as it will allow for an integrated approach to the development of the new generation European air traffic management system involving all parts of the industry.
	However, the Government also have a number of concerns which have yet to be resolved, in particular, the governance structure, scope and funding of the joint undertaking.
	The third aviation item covers two aspects of aviation external relations. The Commission will report on the state of play on EU-US negotiations for an air transport agreement. Progress was made during the talks last autumn with the US, and we now await the outcome of a US rule-making process on airline control before we can evaluate whether what is proposed goes far enough to make the stage one deal on the table acceptable. A decision may be possible at a Council later this year. The second external relations issue is Siberian overflight payments. A solution to this issue has been sought for several years.
	There will be Council conclusions and the Council will consider a specific mandate to allow the Commission to take forward negotiations with Russia.
	The Commission will report on the key elements of the concession contract for the Galileo satellite navigation project. The Government will argue strongly for a robust PPP which is affordable for the Community.
	There will be a policy debate on the current review of the EU strategy for sustainable development. The Environment Council has been asked to lead on a report for the June European Council, but 10 other Council formations, including the Transport Council, have been asked to provide input on the basis of a unified set of questions.
	Among the "A" points for agreement at the Transport Council is the draft recast directive on driving licences for which a text was endorsed at the preparatory meeting of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the Member States (COREPER) on 15 March 2006. While, the Government support much of what is included in the text, they are concerned about the proposals on motorcycle staging. The Government consider that the system proposed on motorcycle staging will create significant difficulty for our motorcyclists, with no tangible benefit for road safety in the UK. I therefore intend to enter a minutes statement reiterating the UK's disappointment that it has been impossible to reach agreement on a better approach to motorcycling staging.
	The most significant of the "Any Other Business" items are:
	a report from the Commission on the follow-up to its withdrawal of the proposal on access to port services;
	a report from the Commission on a new proposal for enhancing supply chain security; and
	a report from the Commission on the recent proposal for the promotion of clean road vehicles.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My honourable friend the Minister of State for Transport (Stephen Ladyman) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	The Austrian presidency organised an informal meeting of transport Ministers, in Bregenz, Austria, on 2 and 3 March. The event was hosted by the Austrian Federal Minister for Transport and Innovation, Mr Hubert Gorbach, and I represented the United Kingdom.
	The theme for the two-day meeting was road safety.
	During the first session, the Transport Commissioner, M Jacques Barrot, presented the mid-term review of the EU Road Safety Action Programme, which will be discussed at the Transport Council on 27 March. Mr Gorbach then presented the results of the Expert Meeting on Infrastructure Safety held in Vienna in January. In discussion, the UK emphasised the need for effective collaboration and exchange of best practice between member states, rather than legislation.
	The second session, which took place at the Road Safety Training Centre in Röthis, was entitled Crossing Borders in eSafety. Issues covered here were: driver training using vehicles with the most up-to-date equipment; testing of HGVs and passenger vehicles using the latest eSafety equipment and simulators; and other recent trends and innovations in the road safety field.
	Two sessions on the second day covered road safety awareness campaigns in the EU. A number of member states, including the UK, gave presentations on their experience and previous campaigns. There was a discussion of the benefits of sharing of national campaigns and how to overcome potential difficulties such as copyright. There was also a discussion about implementing a common Europe-wide road safety power campaign, on which the Commission will bring forward proposals.
	Mr Gorbach will report on the Bregenz event to the Transport Council in Brussels on 27 March.

Baroness Amos: My right honourable friend the Prime Minister has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I have today announced reforms to the state honours system which mean that I will not exercise my right as Prime Minister to nominate individuals directly for honours.
	A new system of independent honours committees was established in 2005 following recommendations by Sir Hayden Phillips GCB and the Public Administration Select Committee. The committees are chaired by individuals from outside government, with the majority of members from outside government service. The committees' recommendations are considered by a main honours committee chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and consisting of the chairs of all the independent committees. The Cabinet Secretary submits the agreed lists to the Prime Minister, as the Prime Minister by law is the principal adviser on honours to Her Majesty the Queen.
	Under these reforms, my principal involvement in honours from this point will be in setting the strategic policy framework. This will involve giving a remit to the independent committees that consider nominations from government departments and the public as to the general direction of policy, including priority areas for recognition. From now on I shall forward the honours lists to the Queen without amendment.
	These reforms have the agreement of the Queen and take immediate effect. The reforms involve no amendment to statute or to the exercise of the Royal Prerogative.
	I have asked the Cabinet Office, in consultation with departments, to consider the implications of these reforms for other parts of the honours process and to bring forward proposals in due course.

Lord Rooker: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Angela Smith) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	In accordance with Article 677 of The Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986, copies of the Companies Registry Annual Report 2005 have been placed today in the Libraries of both Houses.

Lord Rooker: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (Angela Smith) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	In accordance with Article 81 of The Credit Unions (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 and Section 100 of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act (Northern Ireland) 1969, copies of the Credit Unions Annual Report 2005 have been placed today in the Libraries of both Houses.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Derek Twigg) has made the following Ministerial Statement.
	I have today launched the Railways for All Strategy which explains how the rail industry will improve access for disabled people. Copies have been placed in the House Libraries.
	The strategy describes what the rail industry is doing to improve access for disabled people. It considers all parts of a journey including how the industry will improve the way it provides information, removing barriers to access stations and further refinements in the specification of trains.
	A key objective of this strategy is to improve the accessibility of our stations and in support of this, the Government announced last year ring-fenced expenditure of more than £370 million through to 2015. This investment is known as the access-for-all funding and is over and above commitments made in franchises, the ongoing renewal of stations and major station improvement projects.
	The access-for-all funding is split into two parts:
	around £35 million per year is targeted at improving access to and within stations and to all platforms which would improve the accessible route and make the stations step-free. The strategy explains how we have prioritised this investment. These improvements will be targeted at the busiest non step-free stations and will be delivered by Network Rail.
	Up to £7 million per year is available as small-schemes funding and is targeted at less busy or rural stations where small improvements can go a long way to improving access. From today, bids are invited from train operating companies, local authorities and other parties, and will be assessed against stated appraisal criteria.
	The stations which are planned to be delivered over the next three years by Network Rail can be downloaded today from www.dft.gov.uk/access. It is also intended that those stations which will receive small-schemes funding will be listed here in due course.
	As a rail industry, all parties need to work together to continue to deliver the access improvements many disabled people need. The Railways for All Strategy is all about delivering a railway for the 21st century, that disabled people feel more comfortable, more secure and more confident in using.